I know a lot of you are at-work-only readers and actually try to have lives and/or watch football on the weekend. Whatever, I can’t stop you from doing silly things. If you are one of those people with bad priorities, however, we would like you to know that there was all kinds of fun playoff…

Tigers 5, Athletics 4: Don Kelly with the walkoff? Sure, why not? The A’s are in a deep hole now, down 2-0 in a best of five. How quickly the magic pixie dust from a late regular season run fades. Nationals 3, Cardinals 2: Gio Gonzalez walked the world, but the Nats rallied and Mike…

A close game and the Orioles going to the bullpen? That was money in the bank all season long. But now it’s the playoffs and nothing that came before mattered. And tonight the Orioles faithful saw something unusual: their All-Star closer get beat around and turn a 2-2 tie game in the ninth into a…

CC Sabathia managed to avoid taking any losses during the Yankees’ all too brief postseason runs in 2010 and 2011, but he couldn’t sidestep the criticism The game’s highest-paid pitcher, he was far from an ace in amassing a 5.84 ERA in 24 2/3 innings the last two Octobers. Sabathia’s 2012 postseason got off to a…

UPDATE: Turn out the lights, folks. Jim Johnson had nothing, and now the Yankees sport a 7-2 lead. 11:56 PM: So many chances for both teams had gone by the wayside by the ninth inning rolled around, the last of which came in the bottom of the eighth. There the Orioles got a leadoff double…

UPDATE: Tarp is coming off the field! Game starts at 8:40 5:59 PM: The tarp is on and the rain is falling down, so this one is delayed. It’s all good. More time for me to eat the wings and stuff I got. 5:03 PM: Here are the lineups for Game One of the Yankees-Orioles…

You can’t predict baseball, but you can at least lay out the parameters. So let’s take a look at what the Orioles and Yankees have in store for us in the American League Division Series. The Teams Baltimore Orioles (93-69) vs. New York Yankees (95-67) The Matchups Game 1 Sunday in Baltimore: CC Sabathia vs.…

For most of the regular season, the surprising success of the Orioles was downplayed because of a negative run-differential and their penchant for winning one-run and extra-inning games. Going into tonight’s Wild Card game against the Rangers, most prognosticators didn’t give the Orioles much of a chance because they were using left-hander Joe Saunders against…

By losing 4-1 to the Rays, the Orioles settled things in the American League playoff picture this evening. The Yankees will face the wild card winner, either the Orioles or Rangers, in one ALDS and the A’s will get the Tigers in the other. The Orioles will travel to Texas to play a one-game playoff…

The Yankees exploded for nine runs in the second on the way to a 10-2 victory over the Red Sox on Monday and moved a game up on the Orioles for first place in the AL East after Baltimore lost to Tampa Bay 5-3. The Bombers hit four homers as part of their huge frame,…

Whatever odds Nick Markakis had of playing for the Orioles again this season took a hit today, as the team announced that he won’t have the pin removed from his fractured thumb as hoped. Instead that will have to wait another week, which likely means Markakis is at least three weeks from potentially seeing game…

Orioles 12, Blue Jays 2: Bombs away. Chris Davis and Manny Machado each had two homers and the O’s hit seven in all, keeping pace with the Yankees, who maintain their one and a half game lead. Yankees 8, Twins 2: CC Sabathia looks to be back on his game, and that will be huge for the Yankees in…

The Yankees and Orioles kept rolling tonight, maintaining one game of separation in the AL East. The Yankees beat the A’s 2-1 in 10 innings on a Russell Martin home run. Rafael Soriano blew a 1-0 lead in the top of the ninth by serving up a home run on a slider to Brandon Moss,…

When you’re hot, everything turns into a hit. Ichiro Suzuki had his one-hopper up the middle drop into Jarrod Parker‘s shirt for an infield single Friday night in the game against the A’s. Here’s the video. It was Ichiro’s 10th hit in his last 13 at-bats. One would think a ball would have been much…

Today Buster Olney speculates about where Josh Hamilton may wind up. He runs through any number of teams, notes that there are either fit or payroll problems, and ultimately lands on the Tigers, noting that (a) they have a spot in left field for Hamilton: and (b) they have recently been something of a free…

CC Sabathia is the game’s highest-paid hurler, but David Price has pretty obviously supplanted him as the AL East’s best pitcher. Tampa Bay’s ace picked up his league-leading 18th win Friday as the Rays topped the Yankees 6-4. Price allowed two runs in seven innings to become the AL’s first to 18 victories. Sabathia gave…

Jonah Keri pointed this out on Twitter a few minutes ago. I dare say I haven’t seen analysis this good in all of my days. Really, we just need to stop now and let the season wind down, because all that can be said has been said. Including a bit about CC Sabathia having “gained…

It’s back to mop-up duty for Freddy Garcia. The Yankees’ 35-year-old right-hander, who was initially bounced from the rotation at the end of April, is returning to the pen now to make room for Ivan Nova. Nova, who is recovering from rotator cuff inflammation, will face the Rays on Saturday. He last pitched on Aug.…

Nick Markakis had pins inserted into his broken left thumb during surgery Tuesday morning and is still hoping to play next month if the Orioles reach the postseason. “Originally, they thought they were going to put a plate in there,” manager Buck Showalter said. “They were concerned about the range of motion. They were able to…

David Price skipped his Saturday start against the Rangers because of shoulder soreness, but the Rays left-hander threw a bullpen session today and declared himself ready to take his next turn in the rotation. That will come Friday against the Yankees, in New York and matched up with CC Sabathia, which is a helluva way…

There was nothing settled in Baltimore this weekend: the Yankees crushed the Orioles 13-3 on Sunday to earn a split of the four-game series and maintain a one-game lead in the AL East. Curtis Granderson and Derek Jeter homered in the rout. The Yankees took a 5-0 lead in a four-run fourth inning that included…

Here’s the basic summary, courtesy of MLB.com: Manager Joe Girardi engaged in a brief shouting match with columnist Joel Sherman of the New York Post in the visiting clubhouse at Camden Yards, and the pair were separated by team personnel. Girardi conducted his postgame press conference with reporters in a noisy hallway outside the clubhouse…

Horrible news here for the first-place Orioles. According to Richard Justice of MLB.com, outfielder Nick Markakis has been diagnosed with a broken bone in the middle of his left thumb and is expected to be sidelined for the next six weeks. Markakis suffered the injury in the sixth inning Saturday after getting struck with a…

Yunel Escobar had a homer, three doubles and five RBI Wednesday in the Blue Jays’ 8-5 defeat of the Yankees. The final double, which scored two runs in the ninth, came on a ball that Andruw Jones should have caught. He had it in his glove as he attempted the sliding catch, but he lost…